


We're All Better Off

by Axis2ClusterB



Category: Catfish: The TV Show
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 01:17:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2754170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axis2ClusterB/pseuds/Axis2ClusterB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max knows when to back off and pick his spot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We're All Better Off

**Author's Note:**

> Recent Catfish convert. I think that I have a decent grasp on the characterization, but feel free to give me pointers. Un-beta'd, mistakes are mine own, and again, feel free to point them out! Set during Catfish: The Tv Show S2E1 - Cassie and Steve.

Max has seen it all night - through a dinner of cheap steaks at a shitty diner, through drinks at the hotel bar, through him and Nev negotiating wordlessly around one another as they shower and get ready for bed. 

Has seen how Nev has pulled into himself, like pieces of him are cracking and he has to hold them in against himself, keep them from spilling onto the floor. 

Max knows how this goes, has done it before. Knows how to pick his spot. 

-*-

Max waits until Nev is a warm, sighing weight against him in the dark, constantly shuffling minutely and letting out small, disconsolate sounds before he finally makes the move. 

Tucks his fingers harder against the strong curve of Nev's ribs, presses his mouth to the hair at the nape of Nev's neck. 

Waits. 

Breathes. 

Holds out until Nev finally huffs out a soft breath and actually relaxes, lets Max tug him closer, goes easy. 

"This one hit you hard, huh?" Max says, and he's careful with his words because this thing between them is still new, still fragile, and Max worries sometimes about it breaking like a dandelion on a soft breeze. 

"It's like a double betrayal," Nev says, and his voice is muzzy in a way that tells Max that Nev was upset enough to take a Valium before he crawled into bed. "She lost twice."

Max hmmms, noncommittal, taps his fingers against Nev's bed-warmed skin just to remind Nev that he's there, that he's listening. 

"She lost the person that pulled her out, and she lost her best friend," Nev says, quiet and pensive, and Max takes another minute to wonder if it's all worth it, if the show is worth the pieces of himself that Nev loses with every catfish. 

Max waits and, finally, Nev sighs, pushes himself back against Max and goes boneless, the edge of sleep etched into that final movement. 

"I've got you," Max whispers, and Nev huffs again, tangles his feet with Max's. 

"I know," Nev whispers, and Max falls asleep between one breath and the next, Nev solid and warm against him.


End file.
